Vitamin D – The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread?

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA Panel) has recently issued a favourable opinion on the safety of bread as promising food for an emerging, novel fortification method: enrichment with vitamin D2 through UV-treatment. During this process, baked bread is treated with UV radiation to turn ergosterol, a product of yeast fermentation, into vitamin D2. This post-baking UV light treatment creates 3µg of vitamin D2 per 100 g of bread.

Marks & Spencer will become the first food retailer to sell vitamin D enriched bread where two slices of bread will provide a minimum of 15% of the vitamin D daily requirement (EAR 10μg/d for ≥ 1 year, IOM 2011). What real impact could widespread fortified bread consumption have on vitamin D intake levels across Europe?

We have developed a unique online dietary intake analysis tool called Creme Nutrition®, which can help policy makers and food industry stakeholders analyse food and nutrient intakes. Thanks to the pre-installed databases which provide real data on food intake in several countries, it is possible to assess nutrient and food intakes across the globe.

Creme Nutrition® can assess the impact on intakes of vitamin D through enriched bread consumption within targeted cohorts including populations, markets, age groups etc. Creme Global is involved in ODIN, a four-year collaborative project aimed at preventing vitamin D deficiency in European citizens.

The ODIN research programme focuses on the food-based solutions for optimal vitamin D nutrition and health. As part of this project Creme Nutrition® is assessing the patterns of vitamin D intakes across the European population and conduct dietary modeling of food-based strategies to deliver dietary requirements of vitamin D.